Impressions of M3 after 6 months

[Deco]

The M3 has been out for over 6 months and has received multiple firmware updates. I’m thinking of taking the plunge for a M3 Cine. I have 4 questions for current M3 pilots:

1. Are you happy with your purchase?
2. Would you make the same purchase with the knowledge you now have?
3. What’s your killer feature?
4. Is the M3 a worthwhile upgrade from the M2 Pro (my current bird).

Interested to hear everyone’s thoughts.

D.

 

[Eagle Eye 62]

The M3 has been out for over 6 months and has received multiple firmware updates. I’m thinking of taking the plunge for a M3 Cine. I have 4 questions for current M3 pilots:

1. Are you happy with your purchase?
2. Would you make the same purchase with the knowledge you now have?
3. What’s your killer feature?
4. Is the M3 a worthwhile upgrade from the M2 Pro (my current bird).

Interested to hear everyone’s thoughts.

D.

1. I am very happy, especially after thew latest firmware update
2. Absolutely, no regrets
3. Three things really, Image quality and flexibility, Speed and flight characteristics, Battery life
4. I would say yes. in my humble opinion, the M3 is the best Mavic yet.

 

[Debaser_AZ]

1. Yes I'm happy, even when it took 7 or 8 minutes to get my GPS lock. I knew it was going to get fixed sooner or later. Not as happy about the overall price, but I never considered returning it. I don't see anything out there right now that comes close in competition.

2. Yes, but I would of ignored the Fly More kit this time, and just buy the parts I wanted. I don't use the bag anymore. I'd probably not buy the RC Pro until a price reduction or snipe a used one.

3. The battery life first of all, then the image quality second, the tele camera third.

4. I bought the M3 to upgrade the M1P I used for years--definitely an upgrade. I know not your question, but I did sell my M1P soon after getting my M3 and bought a lightly used M2P since people were selling them off to upgrade. Honest answer? No, I would not part with my M2P as long as the M3 doesn't support waypoints or 3rd party mapping software. If the M3 could do that as good as the M2P, I'd sell M2P and get another M3 as backup.

 

[Deco]

No RC Pro - I’m surprised at that. I was thinking that was a must.

Eagle Eye 62 and yourself site image quality and flight time. They would be well up on my list, image quality in particular. I was hoping the M3 would have brought a changeable camera set up - maybe that’ll be on the 4.

 

[Debaser_AZ]

No RC Pro - I’m surprised at that. I was thinking that was a must.

Eagle Eye 62 and yourself site image quality and flight time. They would be well up on my list, image quality in particular. I was hoping the M3 would have brought a changeable camera set up - maybe that’ll be on the 4.

I’d say if you need optimal control of the camera for video, then the RC Pro is a must. If you’re only taking stills, not so much. I know the M3 currently doesn’t support 3rd party flight apps (and may never), but if so, then the RC Pro will probably hinder more than help—the RCN1 will be better off for that.

 

[Deco]

Video would be my main focus, so that’s good to know. Cheers for the advice.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I’m thinking of taking the plunge for a M3 Cine.

Unless you want or truly need ProRes, save the extra money from the Cine version and buy the basic M3, the hub, and 2 extra batteries, and the RC Pro individually. The Cine SSD is not removable, so unless you intend to manually download your flights after every battery change, you will be better off using removable microSD cards, in which case the SSD will never be used. If you care about your footage, swap cards every time you swap batteries. The "clouds" are not the place to store all your footage! The unremovable SSD also unnecessarily adds significantly to the cost of the replacement of the aircraft in the event of a crash, as well as the upfront cost, and you are also paying for a ProRes license.

Get the RC Pro. Anyone who uses the $100 RC-N1 with the M3 is crippling their control of the M3. It's like drawing with a bar of soap! Get the RC Pro which was specifically designed for the M3. Two scroll wheels, C1, C2, C3 buttons, and a 5 way button, which are all customizable. You cannot simultaneously zoom and elevate the gimbal on the RC-N1. With up to 28x digital zoom, you have to be able to elevate the gimbal while zooming in video, to keep your subject centered in the frame!

 

[Meta4]

Unless you want or truly need ProRes, save the extra money from the Cine version and buy the basic M3, the hub, and 2 extra batteries, and the RC Pro individually. The Cine SSD is not removable, so unless you intend to manually download your flights after every battery change, you will be better off using removable microSD cards, in which case the SSD will never be used. If you care about your footage, swap cards every time you swap batteries. The "clouds" are not the place to store all your footage! The unremovable SSD also unnecessarily adds significantly to the cost of the replacement of the aircraft in the event of a crash, as well as the upfront cost, and you are also paying for a ProRes license.

I second that.
Almost no-one needs the Cine version.
The drone and camera are identical, the SSD and Pro-Res are the only differences.
And for anyone who really needs to shoot Pro-Res, the clunky non-removable SSD necessitates a slow and inconvenient battery-draining file transfer process before you can fly again.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I second that.
Almost no-one needs the Cine version.
The drone and camera are identical, the SSD and Pro-Res are the only differences.
And for anyone who really needs to shoot Pro-Res, the clunky non-removable SSD necessitates a slow and inconvenient battery-draining file transfer process before you can fly again.

Those that truly need to shoot Pro-Res, where time is money, can also likely afford a second Cine version M3, which is the only reasonable solution. To get back in the air immediately, because of the unremovable SSD, they would need to swap Cine aircraft at every battery change, instead just the internal microSD cards, if not shooting Pro-Res!

 

[Deco]

Unless you want or truly need ProRes, save the extra money from the Cine version and buy the basic M3, the hub, and 2 extra batteries, and the RC Pro individually. The Cine SSD is not removable, so unless you intend to manually download your flights after every battery change, you will be better off using removable microSD cards, in which case the SSD will never be used. If you care about your footage, swap cards every time you swap batteries. The "clouds" are not the place to store all your footage! The unremovable SSD also unnecessarily adds significantly to the cost of the replacement of the aircraft in the event of a crash, as well as the upfront cost, and you are also paying for a ProRes license.

Get the RC Pro. Anyone who uses the $100 RC-N1 with the M3 is crippling their control of the M3. It's like drawing with a bar of soap! Get the RC Pro which was specifically designed for the M3. Two scroll wheels, C1, C2, C3 buttons, and a 5 way button, which are all customizable. You cannot simultaneously zoom and elevate the gimbal on the RC-N1. With up to 28x digital zoom, you have to be able to elevate the gimbal while zooming in video, to keep your subject centered in the frame!

ProRes is not a necessity, so going for the basic M3 may be an option. Love your soap analogy! RC Pro is now firmly on the list.

 

[codex22]

I second that.
Almost no-one needs the Cine version.
The drone and camera are identical, the SSD and Pro-Res are the only differences.
And for anyone who really needs to shoot Pro-Res, the clunky non-removable SSD necessitates a slow and inconvenient battery-draining file transfer process before you can fly again.

Note that there is a special mode for transferring files off the SSD which uses a lot less battery. Transfer speed is about 550 MB/s (that is Byte, not bit). For me personally the SSD in the Cine is a real plus, and you can still use a SD card if you want.

 

[WWF]

1. I am very happy, especially after thew latest firmware update
2. Absolutely, no regrets
3. Three things really, Image quality and flexibility, Speed and flight characteristics, Battery life
4. I would say yes. in my humble opinion, the M3 is the best Mavic yet.

I agree. My personal drone is a Mavic Air 2S. I love it but the camera on the Mavic 3 Cine (work drone) seems 3X better. Love the extra run time and not having to use my phone on the controller is great.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

The M3 has been out for over 6 months and has received multiple firmware updates. I’m thinking of taking the plunge for a M3 Cine. I have 4 questions for current M3 pilots:

1. Are you happy with your purchase? Extremely happy (even with the previous software issues).

2. Would you make the same purchase with the knowledge you now have? Double Yes!

3. What’s your killer feature? I'll say the incredible battery life but the imaging is unmatched. I only have 2 batteries and never drained them both.

4. Is the M3 a worthwhile upgrade from the M2 Pro (my current bird). I upgraded from the M2P and bought the Air2s at the same time as my Mavic 3 purchase 'for the RC Pro Controller' (Back Story Here) . . . the Air2s has never seen one second of flight time . . . not one.

 

[p-51d]

Hi

As I lost my first Mavic 3 in a forest inside a valley I needed a second drone for searching the loss.

As I was new to drones and got in a shortage of time due to low battery the drone emergency landed into the trees.
The drone did initialize the way back to its homepoint and got caught up in a altitude of about 100 feet in beetwen
" roofs of branches ". The Mavic tried allways to move forward and sideward to get out of its missy situation.
Taking over control through the sticks I managed to fly backward. The drone then climed above the forest and tried again
to get down to the homepoint. In the meantime the battery became so low it landed inside the trees.

Now there might be a discussion if the SW should be aware about such situations . At least DJI is aware about it
( support case ) and just wanted to sell another overprized new drone...

As I never had another drone I think the Mavic is a very good product. Through my new experience the most important
thing is to be aware that the pilot has the capability to switch of the collision avoidance ( APAS 5.0 ) .

With this option the search for the lost drone is possible at all - otherwise the branches are just to narrow...

What was very surprising as well ( DJI -Support ), is the fact they never asked for the - MCDatFlightRecords - .
As only DJI can analyse these files , think this would have been essential to findings...

The bad story is as well that these files are overwritten by the SW ( the latest after three flights... )

So assume we have to learn and pay for our experience...

Keep in touch
and be aware to switch of APAS

Kind Regards

p-51d

 

[Deco]

I feel your pain. If there’s one thing I have learnt over the years - don’t trust the obstacle avoidance, especially where ‘fine’ obstacles (i.e. branches/phone wires) are concerned.

 

[k0200679]

Hi

As I lost my first Mavic 3 in a forest inside a valley I needed a second drone for searching the loss.

As I was new to drones and got in a shortage of time due to low battery the drone emergency landed into the trees.
The drone did initialize the way back to its homepoint and got caught up in a altitude of about 100 feet in beetwen
" roofs of branches ". The Mavic tried allways to move forward and sideward to get out of its missy situation.
Taking over control through the sticks I managed to fly backward. The drone then climed above the forest and tried again
to get down to the homepoint. In the meantime the battery became so low it landed inside the trees.

Now there might be a discussion if the SW should be aware about such situations . At least DJI is aware about it
( support case ) and just wanted to sell another overprized new drone...

As I never had another drone I think the Mavic is a very good product. Through my new experience the most important
thing is to be aware that the pilot has the capability to switch of the collision avoidance ( APAS 5.0 ) .

With this option the search for the lost drone is possible at all - otherwise the branches are just to narrow...

What was very surprising as well ( DJI -Support ), is the fact they never asked for the - MCDatFlightRecords - .
As only DJI can analyse these files , think this would have been essential to findings...

The bad story is as well that these files are overwritten by the SW ( the latest after three flights... )

So assume we have to learn and pay for our experience...

Keep in touch
and be aware to switch of APAS

Kind Regards

p-51d

Sounds to me that you set RTH altitude too low (lower than tree brunches)
If thats so, that has nothing to do with the drone itself and its purely pilot error.

 

[p-51d]

When the RTH would not have been set to 400 feet I would not have lost the drone.
May be you should better more carefully read and try to understand what is written in my post...

I'm always surprised again about messages as yours, people write without understanding what the facts are...

 

[mcde]

The M3 has been out for over 6 months and has received multiple firmware updates. I’m thinking of taking the plunge for a M3 Cine. I have 4 questions for current M3 pilots:

1. Are you happy with your purchase?
2. Would you make the same purchase with the knowledge you now have?
3. What’s your killer feature?
4. Is the M3 a worthwhile upgrade from the M2 Pro (my current bird).

Interested to hear everyone’s thoughts.

D.

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. a) Battery life: With this drone you always have time to find the composition you are looking for. I have 2 batteries and I always manage to frame the shots I want with the first one. This was not the case with the Mavic 2 pro, far from it.
b) image quality is exceptional, especially in low light, video is much improved as well. There are some videos in the forums with HLG HDR footage, I suggest you have a look.
4. Yes. My previous drone was a Mavic 2 pro and the Mavic 3 is vastly better. Everything is better, down to the last little detail.

 

[Deco]

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. a) Battery life: With this drone you always have time to find the composition you are looking for. I have 2 batteries and I always manage to frame the shots I want with the first one. This was not the case with the Mavic 2 pro, far from it.
b) image quality is exceptional, especially in low light, video is much improved as well. There are some videos in the forums with HLG HDR footage, I suggest you have a look.
4. Yes. My previous drone was a Mavic 2 pro and the Mavic 3 is vastly better. Everything is better, down to the last little detail.

 

[Deco]

Cine or non-Cine version?